Customer Reviews

Dark Saga

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have been into heavy metal for almost 20 years now. In fact in the mid-to-late 1980's, I rarely listened to anything else. During that time, I listened to bands such as Metallica, Anthrax, Accept, Iron Maiden, and Helloween.

Around 1990, the heavy metal scene as I knew it faded to glam metal. Not only that, bands such as Metallica and Anthrax changed their style and I slowly lost interest. Of course, Metal never died but it was harder to find because many radio stations stopped dedicating time for Metal.

Then my friend turned me on to this album. It was a re-birth. Believe me, if you were into Metal in the mid-80's and are disgusted with the music scene nowadays give this album a try. I think you will not be disappointed. In fact, you may find yourself buying other Iced Earth albums (like myself) and complete the collection.

Unfortunately even with my best attempt, I can't convert how good the music is to words. Simply stated, there are NO bad songs on this album! If you like "speed" metal, you probably will love Violate; it is concentrated energy. "Dark Saga" is another highly addictive song; the first time I listened to this song, I didn't have time to listen to the rest of the album, because I kept playing the song over and over again! The best way that I can describe "Dark Saga" is grinding bass guitar that is complemented very well with forceful-in-your-face vocals. In a "Question Of Heaven", the vocals are just as forceful, but even more incrediable. The vocals span several octives throughout the song.

The lyrics are trully a masterpiece because all of the songs are related to each and tell one complete story! It is trully rare when an artist does this. The only other bands that come to mind are the Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, and Rush (but I may have forgotten a few others)? For example, "Scarred" is about when a person who gets touched by the devil and sold his soul only to find out he will be denied of heaven. "Slave to the Dark" is about the same guy who is torn between his evil power (or is it really Lucifier's power) and what is good (which is deep inside of him). Then "A Question of Heaven" is about the same person who is now close to death and trying to get into heaven. He demands that he be permitted to enter heaven, but angels sing back to him denying his request. At the point of death the person, is forced to make a choice between good or evil. (I will not disclose his ultimate decision). Without going into too much detail the other songs are related to good versus evil.

To the band members of Iced Earth, you guys deserve an Emmy! It is very rare that an album of this magnitude and caliber is produced in the record industry. Thanks for being different by not selling-out to the almighty dollar. Metal Now & Forever.

Compared to its predecessor Burnt Offerings, The Dark Saga is a less experimental entry into Iced Earth's catalogue. Musically, it is simpler (but not simplistic), more melodic, and it concentrates heavily on emotion. Has Iced Earth gone soft? Definitely not. This is one of their finest and most mature works of songwriting, but it maintains all of Iced Earth's trademark heaviness and power, a quality enhanced by the best production qualities to date.

The Dark Saga is a concept album based on the comic book "Spawn." If you are thinking, "Hey, that's cheesy!" let me stress that the band handles this extremely well. Firstly, Spawn was a very mature story, dealing with the ambiguities of good & evil, religion, and lost love. Secondly, the lyrics remain strictly poetic and obscure without falling into the trap where narration supersedes good poetry. (It's a problem that besets most concept works.) To truly appreciate the emotional impact of the album, however, one requires some familiarity with the comic book. However, in an abstract sense it may be easy to appreciate the emotions and conflicts involved. I haven't read Spawn myself in YEARS, but I always liked it.

Jon Schaffer (a monster of a rhythm player) uses more guitar harmonies (a la Iron Maiden) than ever, which weave a melodic finesse through the album. "Hunter" and "Slave to the Dark" are heavy songs, but the harmonized guitar lines lend them a very melodic inflection. Matt Barlow's incredible vocals are more passionate than ever before. Listening to "I Died For You" and "A Question of Heaven," it's impossible not to think he's a soulful performer. "Violate" is one of the few tracks where The Dark Saga enters pure thrash. The pulverizing guitars fit well with the gruesome lyric. "Vengeance Is Mine" is a vicious, thrash-powered piece that is absolutely bloodthirsty.

My favorite song is the tragic, epic-structured "A Question of Heaven," where beautiful acoustic moments are juxtaposed with Schaffer's robust chugging rhythms. The female vocals of Kate Barlow create the angelic choirs, which injects the song with a soft, radiant feel. Matt's vocals are at their absolute best, with unmatched emotional expression that will stir the feelings of anyone with a heart. Randall Shawyer's leads are melodic and emotionally charged. This is definitely one of my favorite songs ever.

Now I will offer my take on the album's story in a broad sense (not limited to the Spawn comic):

"Dark Saga" - Our hero has died. Not being a good guy in life, he winds up in Hell. However, sinners are not necessarily incapable of love -- our hero had a wife who he loved dearly. So the devil makes a deal with him: if the hero sells his soul to the devil and serves his dark machinations, he can return to Earth and see his wife. Like a fool, he jumps at the offer without considering the cost.

"I Died for You" - Our hero returns to Earth five years later. He finds that his wife has remarried his best friend, and both are very happy with a new daughter. He has sold his soul for nothing.

"Violate" - The devil has sent a demon to guide the hero during his time on Earth. This creature is the Violator, who walks in the guise of an ugly, fat clown who likes to indiscriminately kill at random. This song is the gruesome exposition of this creature's nature. This has more importance in the comic than The Dark Saga, but it makes for a good headbangin' track.

"Hunter" - Heaven dispatches an angelic warrior to destroy the new servent of Hell. The hero evades her clutches though. Again, this isn't necessarily important to the concept other than reflecting the fact that Heaven is against the main character.

"The Last Laugh" - The devil considers his new servent. He revels in the helplessness of his slave.

"Depths of Hell" - Here, the hero is seeking to reject his new role, and he finds himself with no allies. Rebuking the devil, he is Hell's enemy. As a soldier of Hell, Heaven wants him destroyed.

"Vengeance is Mine" - Perhaps in an attempt to reconcile the being he has become, the hero brutally kills a psychotic child murderer as retribution. Is he on the road to righteousness?

"Scarred" - In the final trilogy things become more ambiguous. Here, the hero reflects on his situation. Is he in control, or merely a pawn in the battle of Heaven and Hell?

"Slave to the Dark" - The character's inner reflection probes deeper, and he concludes he must seek God's forgiveness if he is to break free.

"A Question of Heaven" - The hero tries to enter Heaven. But the angels sing back to him, telling him cannot enter because of the path he has chosen. God rejects him. We can empathize with our hero because in the story's closed system, he is the good guy. The Dark Saga ends with a nightmare where our hero is condemned to suffer because he gave up everything for love.

My first experience with Iced Earth was with their latest release, "Something Wicked". And while I absolutely love that CD, I was a little skeptical about checking out some of their earlier releases. Part of the reason for my skepticism was due to reviews I had read here. Reviews that claimed that the guitar work on this CD was very basic, that this CD sounded like Metallica, and that this was Iced Earth's most basic CD. Don't believe it.

First off, anything that Matthew Barlow sings on is worth owning. Barlow has quickly become my favorite vocalist. He is simply amazing. Based on this alone, any comparisons to Metallica, are off the mark. Metallica's sound is defined by Hettfield's voice, which I like. However, to compare Hettfield to Barlow as vocalists would be flat out silly.

As for the CD, it kicks off with the killer title track, Dark Saga, and never lets up. Although the entire CD is awesome, songs worth noting are "I Died For You", "The Hunter", and the trilogy that closes the CD, especially "A Question of Heaven".

It would be unfair to not point out the brilliant songwriting abilities of John Schaeffer. His music and lyrics are consistently poinnant and touching.

I sincerely hope that Shaeffer and Barlow stick together for many years, as Barlow's voice is the perfect medium for Schaeffer's lyrics.

By the way, I didn't notice in any of the other reviews that I read, that this CD seems to be a loosely tied concept album. Not in the traditional sense of Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime, where all the songs directly flow into one another, but rather that all the songs seem to be about the same character and circumstances.

Wow, what a great album! Can Iced Earth ever fail? It's also awesome that they did a concept album based on "Spawn", which just happens to be my favorite work of fiction (outside of novels, of course), so I'm glad that my favorite band did this. They really bring the story to life as no one else could. Songs like "Vengeance is Mine" and "Slave to the Dark" prove their nearly unmatched thrash metal prowess (surpassed only by early Metallica), but I'd say that the track that stands out the most is "A Question of Heaven". It's almost 8 minutes long, and alternates between soft and heavy, which I really like in a song. However, as great as this album is, it still doesn't match the genius of "Something Wicked This Way Comes", mainly because it lacks Larry Tarnowski's godlike soloing. Randall Shawyer is really good, but he can't compare. Anyway, if you love great metal, you must buy this album. Iced Earth rules!

Whatever you think about Iced Earth, there's no denying the band's ambition, and "Dark Saga" is perhaps the best proof of that. It's a full blown concept album based on the "Spawn" comic book (or graphic novel if you will). Now, I never got around to reading "Spawn," and the one time I watched the movie I was somewhat inebriated, so I'm only familiar with the broad outline of the story. However, I didn't really find this to be a problem. Even if you're not aware of the specifics of the story, "Dark Saga" still makes for an epic tale of good and evil, and it's delivered with Iced Earth's customary style and musicianship.

Now, we've all heard by now that Iced Earth's music bears some resemblance to that of Iron Maiden and early Metallica, and well, there is some truth to those claims. However, to call Iced Earth a ripoff band is a bit unfair. They manage to fuse the accessibility of classic metal with the heaviness of thrash to create a fairly unique sound, with an epic feel worthy of their predecessors. Jon Schaeffer is one of the most recognizable rhythm guitarists out there, with a staccato riffing style that does more than anything else to set the band apart from its peers.

Even if nothing else, Iced Earth definitely have a flair for the dramatic. I know my metal and these guys offer more in the way of atmosphere and emotion than all but a few bands in the genre. Befitting its name and subject matter, "Dark Saga" has a very dark, foreboding aura that sucked me in right from the first listen. A great deal of the credit for this fact needs to go to vocalist Matt Barlow, regardless of how much (if at all) he's involved with the actual songwriting process. What's most important is, he SOUNDS like he's really involved emotionally with the material. He delivers most of his vocals in a husky baritone that sounds like Bruce Dicksinson taken down a notch, but for the album's angrier moments he can contort his voice into a menacing growl reminiscent of James Hetfield.

The pounding, midtempo opening title track serves as a a good introduction to the album, both in terms of lyrics and overall sound. The next track, "I Died For You," is a ballad, and while the lyrics are pretty moving I'll admit it's a tad overwrought. Fortunately, any fears that Iced Earth are going to go soft are put to rest with the very next track, "Violate." It's a roaring thrash-metal song that's as fast as anything Slayer have ever done, and about as heavy as well. It's exactly what I need to get my head banging again after "I Died For You." "The Hunter," "Last Laugh," "Vengeance Is Mine," and "Slave To The Dark" are Iced Earth at their best, filled with crushing riffage, insanely catchy leads, and fearsome vocals. The seven-minute closer "A Question Of Heaven" is a bit different from the rest of the stuff here, but still pretty damn good. The song includes some acoustic guitars and even a choir (!), but there's also plenty of heavy riffs and angry vocals to keep it from being too sappy. It's not quite as brilliant as "Dante's Inferno" from "Burnt Offerings," but it's a very worthy link in the Iced Earth tradition of epic album closers.

So anyway, "Dark Saga" is definitely a quality album, and if you like metal it's worth adding to your collection without a second thought. Iced Earth will never be my favorite band, but they've still established a strong track record of putting out excellent albums. And if you like this one, "Burnt Offerings" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" are musts as well.

First of all I want to say that I could'nt trust my eyes when I read some of the other ratings concerning that album. There is absolutely no alternative for giving the full amount of stars.This album, no, this masterpiece is one of the greatest metal records ever to be made. The sound is brilliant, melodies and harmonies are awesome, the vocals (inspired by Todd McFarlanes "Spawn") and the music fit together perfectly which is not only achieved by brilliant vocalist Matthew Barlow but also by the outstandig songwriting qualities of John Schaffer.Seldomly I've listened to a record that intense and beautiful. Iced Earth managed to create a piecee of art which is melancholic, spirited and encouraging at the same time. Songs like "The Dark Saga", "The Hunter" or "Depth Of Hell" are well balanced concerning slow and fast parts."Violator" is one of the fastest and mightiest tracks ever to be written by a Power Metal Band and tracks like "I Died For You", or the final trilogy "The Suffering" are simply beautiful. These guys have the rare talent of "transporting" emotions through their music and lyrics. John Schaffer is one of the best rythm guitar players I know and his riffing sometimes reminds of James Hetfield but the music itself does NOT sound like Metallica and I wonder how some people can even consider it to be so. Matthew Barlow surely is one of the best vocalists on this planet and capable of "visualize" emotions by an incredible variety in his way of singing. All songs are well structured and fit together perfectly no matter if you listen to the whole record or to single tracks. All in all you've got to bow your heads in sheer admiration of the beauty and majesty this CD embodies. Two thumbs up and full amount of stars. A+!

I've heard so much about Iced Earth. Some say they are the best heavy metal band ever. Others say that they're destined to be ranked with the best bands in heavy metal's history. After listening to their 1996 concept album THE DARK SAGA, it's easy to see why they would feel that way.

Lord Chimp describes IE as "melodic power thrash," and I believe that's an accurate description of the band's sound. They combine the melodic guitar harmonies of Iron Maiden with the speed and intensity of '80s thrash metal and throw in some epic power metal arrangements in for good measure. That's not to say they're derivative, however. Iced Earth has a potent sound all their own and it really shines brightly on this release.

The real standout here is lead singer Matt Barlow. I don't believe there's any other metal vocalist that sounds quite like him. I was kind of put off by his vocals on the first IE song I heard called "Wolf," but as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover. Barlow manages to sound thoughtful, passionate, angry, desperate, and intense throughout the whole disc, frequently changing his voice around to fit the characters. Kind of like James LaBrie only less operatic. Barlow deserves all the praise he's getting.

Now, onto the album. THE DARK SAGA is a concept album based on Todd McFarlene's popular comic book "Spawn." It tells the story of a government agent who gets killed (and betrayed) by people he trusted and his spirit gets sent to Hell for having done bad deeds on Earth. He longs to see his wife Wanda, so in exchange for his soul, he agrees to become Satan's Hellspawn and unleashes his army of terror against Heaven. Spawn goes back to Earth, only to discover that Wanda is now remarried to his best friend Terry and they are the proud parents of a little girl. Devastated, Spawn struggles to do good, follow his conscience, and lift the curse, but he soon realizes that there's no turning back. The decision has been made.

THE DARK SAGA is unique for a concept album as well as a unique metal record. For one thing, the total running time for the album is a mere 43:49, breaking the rule that concept albums have to be 60+ or 70+ minutes. Lead guitarist Randall Shawver isn't your typical metal guitarist. He actually takes his time doing his solos and that brings out more emotion in songs that are already so emotional.

I can't pick a favorite song since every track on here is excellent and it's tough to pick the best out of a concept album where every song is linked. The highlight of the album for me is the final trilogy of songs at the end entitled "The Suffering." It begins with the haunting, Sabbath-esque "Scarred" (track 8), leads right into the explosive "Slave to the Dark" (track 9), and ends beautifully with the 7-minute ballad "A Question of Heaven" (track 10). "A Question of Heaven" by itself is worth buying the album alone. Kate Barlow, Matt's sister-in-law (not his wife--sorry!), supplies the angelic backing vocals that make the song all the more powerful.

In conclusion, THE DARK SAGA is a seamless blend of thrash, power, and melodic metal filled with great riffs, incredible double-bass rhythms, stellar playing, powerful vocals, and meaningful lyrics. I can't wait to hear more by this band.

I would consider Iced Earth to be one of my all time favorite bands. They balance aggression and harmony in a manner that is rare. Yes, a person can compare them to every metal band you can think of, but why, give them a listen. I would rank Iced Earth up there with Metallica, Dream Theater, Flotsam and Jetsam (for the few who know), and Sepultura with the few bands that really stand on their own. After listening to "The Dark Saga", I went out and bought every Iced Earth album in a matter of two weeks. Give them a listen without saying they sound like this band and that band, just simply listen and enjoy

The Dark Saga by Iced Earth has defenetly everything the movie of Spawn lacked of. This Album tells the story of Spawn in such an amazing way that you can imagine all the stages and actions in the songs. The music is equally Brilliant and as many other have said before there's no point at all in trying to compare Iced Earth with other bands, they have their own style and yes they use a lot of riffs and muttered guitars but isn't this one of the distinctive factors of Heavy Metal?.

Iced Earth achieves to deliver a great conceptual album which is filled with feeling, Mustly because of the impressive vocals and the great guitar riffs. The story is told really well and by the time you get to a Question of Heaven you can understand all the pain Spawn has to bear in his soul.

This is a great Album which can't be missed in any Heavy Metal collection.

First off I think this is one of their best albums with horror show I think being the best.But any how this album is a concept album about spawn which starts off with opening track "dark saga" which is a good opening track which will slowly build up on you and then will kick some ass.then it goes into the song "I died for you" which is a nice little ballad that has some nice lead playing on it.The song "violate" comes next with some evil style vocals on it which works well for this particular song.Then comes the energetic song "the hunter" which keeps that energy flowing until the end of the song.But to make it short and sweet the rest of the songs are really good too they all have a nice rhythm guitar sound with the album ending with the song "a question of Heaven" which is my favorite song on this album that starts out slow then gets heavy adding some angelic female vocals to the song which flows really nicly with the music.But to say how the album is as a whole it's a great album all the songs have Iron Maiden style guitar harmonys with classic like Metallica lead playing. The songs don't sound very complex musicly but they are all well writen and well sung